1 Jun 2011

Fiji Olympic Committee suggests World Cup boycott over visa row

1:26 pm on 1 June 2011

Fiji should consider boycotting the Rugby World Cup over New Zealand's ban on some players, says the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee.

New Zealand has a travel ban on all military personnel and their family members in response to the 2006 military coup.

The Association's president Vidhya Lakhan has told Radio Fiji that the International Rugby Board should shift Fiji's games from New Zealand if Fiji's unable to field it's best team.

Lakhan says if the IRB does not act on the issue, Fiji should consider a boycott.

He says the IRB should take its lead from football's world governing body FIFA, which moved Fiji's 2007 World Cup qualifier from New Zealand to Fiji after a player was not granted a visa.